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'Tricked by the devil.' They backed Trump. Now, his foreign labor cuts may ruin them.
kentucky.com ^ | 05/14/2018 | Tom Eblen

Posted on 05/14/2018 7:45:13 AM PDT by GIdget2004

Eddie Devine voted for President Donald Trump because he thought he would be good for American business. Now, he says, the Trump administration’s restrictions on seasonal foreign labor may put him out of business.

“I feel like I’ve been tricked by the devil,” said Devine, owner of Harrodsburg-based Devine Creations Landscaping. “I feel so stupid.”

Devine says it has been years since he could find enough dependable, drug-free American workers for his $12-an-hour jobs mowing and tending landscapes for cemeteries, shopping centers and apartment complexes across Central Kentucky.

So for years he has hired 20 seasonal workers, mostly from Guatemala, through the U.S. Labor Department’s H2-B “guest worker” program. Importing these workers for a few months cost him an additional $18,000 in fees and expenses beyond their wages, which must be the same as he pays American workers. But that’s the only way he could serve his customers.

Restrictions on guest-worker visas, which began during President Barack Obama’s second term as immigration became a hot issue for conservatives, have gotten worse under Trump. And it’s even more of a problem now that the unemployment rate is the lowest it has been in years.

Devine says he lost a $100,000 account because he didn’t have enough men to do the job. He’s worried he may be out of business next year if things don’t improve.

He isn’t alone. Cuts in H-2B visas are hurting small businesses across the country that can’t find Americans willing to do hard, manual labor: Maryland crab processors, Texas shrimp fishermen, and Kentucky landscapers and construction companies.

“We live and die by these visas,” said Ken Monin, owner of Monin Construction, which specializes in home additions, roofs, decks and garages.

(Excerpt) Read more at kentucky.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Government; News/Current Events; US: Kentucky
KEYWORDS: buyersremorse; h2bvisas; immigration; trumpeconomy; workforce
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To: RedStateRocker
Anyone who makes it their business what a person consumes on their own time deserves to go out of business; good riddance. None of anybody’s damned business unless and until it actually effects performance.

Good luck getting insurance/bonding for your business without the drug testing. Especially when dealing with potentially dangerous equipment, or the property of others (clients).

41 posted on 05/14/2018 8:47:51 AM PDT by IYAS9YAS (There are two kinds of people: Those who can extrapolate from incomplete data.)
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To: GIdget2004

I’ve seen several articles about restaurants and farmers complaining that they have had to raise wages because of the tightening of the border and work visas.

Exactly. That’s how its supposed to work. Tighten the border and you don’t have to worry so much about minimum wage... the minimum wage takes care of itself.


42 posted on 05/14/2018 8:47:55 AM PDT by marron
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To: GIdget2004

The crux of this guy’s problem is that he is paying $12/hr for jobs that only exist for a few months of the year. That’s a great wage for Guatemalans, who can cruise for the rest of the year, but worthless for the average American. College kids building pools were getting paid $15 an hour 30 years ago. His wage rates are a joke. $12/hr today was $5.64/hr in 1988.


43 posted on 05/14/2018 8:55:04 AM PDT by Zhang Fei (Journalism is about covering important stories. With a pillow, until they stop moving.)
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To: bert
"You misunderstand."


You misunderstand.

If you've only raised wages enough to attract random druggies, you're not done.

Try this: Pay enough for your labor to attract good people, then treat them well enough to retain them.
44 posted on 05/14/2018 9:01:43 AM PDT by Hugh the Scot ("The days of being a keyboard commando are over. It's time to get some bloody knuckles." -Drew68)
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To: ProudDeplorable
Hire some high school kids for $12/hr instead of importing indentured servants that the U.S. doesn’t have the stomach to deport.

Bingo.

At present, I live in a rural area where High School kids are scrambling for any type job to help them save for college, buy a vehicle, etc.

I know several young men that are mowing lawns, cutting trees, clearing brush, etc. and I seriously doubt they are getting $12 an hour.

45 posted on 05/14/2018 9:02:00 AM PDT by TXSearcher (Interesting times we live in...........)
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To: GIdget2004
Restrictions on guest-worker visas, which began during President Barack Obama’s second term

Yes, he was tricked by the black devil.

46 posted on 05/14/2018 9:04:56 AM PDT by Fightin Whitey
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To: bert

You misunderstand. Pay decent wages and you don’t have to hire druggies and the no shows.


47 posted on 05/14/2018 9:25:30 AM PDT by MNJohnnie ("The political class is a bureaucracy designed to perpetuate itself" Rush Limbaugh)
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To: TexasGator
How can they work when they have to be in class.

The prime landscaping season is when they are on summer vacation. There is also after-school and weekends.

48 posted on 05/14/2018 9:30:03 AM PDT by PapaBear3625 (Big governent is attractive to those who think that THEY will be in control of it.)
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To: GIdget2004

Here we go. Look forward to a bunch of “I voted for Trump now I hate him” stories.


49 posted on 05/14/2018 9:32:35 AM PDT by Opinionated Blowhard (When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.)
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To: GIdget2004
Devine says he lost a $100,000 account because he didn’t have enough men to do the job.

Good. Another underbid using cheap foreign labor was squashed.

50 posted on 05/14/2018 9:45:09 AM PDT by glorgau
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To: glorgau

Just add the Kentucky employment incentive plan “a pint of moonshine and pack of smokes. “


51 posted on 05/14/2018 9:53:32 AM PDT by Rodm
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To: 1066AD
By the terms of their visa, they go home.

hahahahahaahahahahahahahahahaha!

hahahahahaahahahahahahahahahaha!

hahahahahaahahahahahahahahahaha!

hahahahahaahahahahahahahahahaha!

I'd be willing to bet that less than 5% of such workers ever go home.

52 posted on 05/14/2018 10:19:00 AM PDT by zeugma (Power without accountability is fertilizer for tyranny.)
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To: Peeps47

Assuming 2% annual inflation since 1986, your $12/hour wage comes to $21.78/hour.


53 posted on 05/14/2018 10:34:17 AM PDT by Chaguito
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To: PapaBear3625

In the winter I cut my lawnmowing back to 2x a month


54 posted on 05/14/2018 10:36:23 AM PDT by TexasGator (Z1)
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To: GIdget2004

““I feel like I’ve been tricked by the devil,” said Devine, owner of Harrodsburg-based Devine Creations Landscaping. “I feel so stupid.””

Hire american citizens and you’ll feel less stupid.


55 posted on 05/14/2018 10:44:52 AM PDT by Rebelbase
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To: GIdget2004
There's one of these trucks in my neighborhood. I see the four man crew occasionally in the grocer store, all of them wearing US Lawns uniforms.

Every one of them is a mexican. Oh, the irony.


56 posted on 05/14/2018 10:48:44 AM PDT by Rebelbase
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To: GIdget2004

My friend has a senior landscaping/horticulture position in a award winning cemetery in Newton, MA,
For years they had the Guats come in for the summer to do the mowing/weedwacking but around 10 years ago the management put a stop to it.....somehow they survived and are still winning the horticulture awards...

Maybe this guy should adjust his business practice.


57 posted on 05/14/2018 11:10:58 AM PDT by mowowie
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To: Trailerpark Badass

As do most of the domestic low wage workers. I don’t favor citizens over citizens when it comes to handouts. I truly beleive illegals should receive the same amount as citizens should receive which is $0.


58 posted on 05/14/2018 11:43:54 AM PDT by FreedomNotSafety
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To: GIdget2004

I heard it this morning on Bloomberg Radio...Raise the wages...boohoo...ConservaTeen raised his brother’s wages...he might be raising his prices...


59 posted on 05/14/2018 1:33:36 PM PDT by Deplorable American1776 (Proud to be a DeplorableAmerican with a Deplorable Family...even the dog is, too. :-))
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To: TexasGator

After school...on school vacations...When I was 9, I had a lawnmowing/snow removing business...when I sold it (to a friend’s younger brother for $25) I had 30 customers. He now has operations in 7 states, along with painting and remodeling.


60 posted on 05/14/2018 2:18:52 PM PDT by Deplorable American1776 (Proud to be a DeplorableAmerican with a Deplorable Family...even the dog is, too. :-))
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